Americans at the Tour de France

George Hincapie

4 / 8

New York City native Hincapie is riding his 17th Tour de France. The American is in his final season of racing, and has come to the Tour to support the yellow-jersey campaign of 2011 Tour winner Evans. On the flat stages of the Tour's first week Hincapie was a visible figure. He frequently worked on the front, and often has had Evans tucked safely in his slipstream. On the run-in to the tricky finish in Seraing, Hincapie towed Evans to the front just before the final climb. Then, on the way into Metz for the final sprint stage of the first week, Hincapie battled shoulder to shoulder with the sprint trains and delivered Evans safely to the three-kilometer banner (all riders receive the same time at that point on flat stages). Hincapie sits 49th at over 20 minutes down on the general classification, but that won’t matter much to him. What matters for Hincapie is where Evans places in Paris.